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“You know the name. You know the number.”
Timothy Dalton resigned as James Bond in April 1994, and with Pierce
Brosnan finally available to take the role he was announced as the new 007
at a press conference held on June 8, 1994 at the Regent Hotel, Marylebone
Road, London. It would be another six months before shooting began on the
seventeenth film in the official series. With Pinewood unavailable, the
EON Productions converted the old Rolls-Royce factory at Leavesden
Aerodrome into a working studio, and the facility (later re-branded
Leavesden Studios) became a major film-making centre, and was the home to
all ten films in the Harry Potter series in the ensuing decade. |
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Since the release of
Licence To Kill in 1989 world politics had changed dramatically.
GoldenEye was the first James Bond film to be produced since the fall
of the Berlin Wall, collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of the Cold
War. The film used these events as the background to its story, and with
M now recast as a woman in the shape of Judi Dench, the character could
openly remark that she thought Bond was a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur”
and a “relic of the Cold War”. Although the James Bond films had still
been shown on British television and more widely available on home video,
it had been six years since Licence To Kill had been seen in
cinemas. An early test screening of GoldenEye took place under
strict security at the ODEON Wimbledon on Wednesday July 19, 1995 where
the film was shown to officials of the UK and US distributors, and invited
members of the public. |
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The incomplete ‘first
cut’ was met with a favourable reaction by the 600 audience members, with
many response cards comparing Pierce Brosnan with Sean Connery. EON
Productions, and their new UK distributor United International Pictures,
pulled out all the stops with an unprecedented advertising campaign
reminding audiences that although the world has changed in the six-years
since the last James Bond film was released, a new 007 was about to make
his debut. The marketplace was flooded with special trailers, teaser
posters and TV advertising. “You know the name. You know the number”
played on audience familiarity with the character, but the new campaign
also carried the tag-line “No Limits. No Fears. No Substitutes.” as if to
cast aside memories of the action heroes who had taken Bond's place in the
years the character was absent from the screen. Like Roger Moore before
him, Pierce Brosnan appeared in early teaser trailers, and broke the
fourth wall by directly addressing the audience with the words “You were
expecting someone else?”. GoldenEye premiered on Monday November 13, 1995
at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and went on general release
in the USA four days later. Pierce Brosnan attended along with co-stars Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Joe Don Baker, Alan Cumming and Desmond
Llewelyn who remained the only on-screen link to the earlier films in the
series, playing gadget-master Q for the 15th time.
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ABOVE:
(left) Radio City Music Hall, New York Monday November 13, 1995 -
GoldenEye became the first James Bond film since A View To
A Kill a decade earlier not to have its world premiere in
London. (right) New James Bond Pierce Brosnan with Desmond
Llewelyn who played gadget-master Q for the fifteenth time in
GoldenEye. |
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GoldenEye then had
its Royal European Charity Premiere in London at
the ODEON Leicester Square on Tuesday November 21, 1995, in the presence of Prince Charles. Pierce
Brosnan once again attended, and before the screening took to the stage at
the ODEON to introduce his co-stars who included Izabella
Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Alan Cumming, Desmond Llewelyn, Gottfried John,
Robbie Coltrane and title song performer Tina Turner. Acclaimed Hollywood
director Martin Scorsese also attended the London premiere. GoldenEye
played for six weeks at the ODEON Leicester Square before being replaced by
David Fincher's Se7en on Friday January 5, 1996. |
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GoldenEye also
opened at the ODEON Marble Arch on Friday November 24, 1995 and went
on general release across London, and at cinemas throughout the
country. GoldenEye set a new opening record at the ODEON
Leicester Square, taking £306,000 in its first seven days. Pierce
Brosnan's debut as 007 was also a huge international success, and at
the time of its release became the most successful Bond film since
Moonraker, taking inflation into account. With a massive opening
at 2,667 cinemas in the USA GoldenEye more than made up for the
box-office disappointment of Licence To Kill, becoming the
sixth highest-grossing film of 1995. British cinemas also celebrated
the highest-grossing weekend in box-office history, with a staggering
£7.24- million taken between 5th and 7th January 1996. The UK then
boasted 70 multiplex cinemas with around 650 screens, and
GoldenEye contributed greatly to this success. |
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ABOVE: (top left)
Press advertisement announcing the premiere of GoldenEye on
Tuesday November 21, 1995 (right) The ODEON Leicester Square on
GoldenEye premiere night. (bottom left) HRH Prince Charles is
presented with a souvenir premiere brochure by Sean Brosnan [son
of new James Bond Pierce Brosnan and Cassandra Harris
(1948-1991)], watched by his father and James Bond co-producer
Michael G. Wilson. |
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“James Bond: Shaken, Not Stirred”
With GoldenEye still breaking box-office records in the West
End, the first five James Bond films starring Sean Connery were presented
in a special season sponsored by Martini at the National Film
Theatre on London's South Bank. Brand new 35mm prints of the five films
were each screened twice over the first three weeks of 1996. The season
entitled ‘James Bond: Shaken, Not Stirred’ kicked off with Dr. No
at 6.10pm in NFT1 on Monday January 1, 1996, and From Russia With Love
showing at the same time the next day. Goldfinger screened at
6.00pm on Thursday January 4, 1996, followed by a second showing of
From Russia With Love on Friday 5th at 8.45pm. Saturday January 6,
1996 saw a triple-bill of Dr. No at 4.00pm, followed by
Thunderball at 6.10pm, and You Only Live Twice at 8.45pm. |
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Thunderball then
had its second showing at 8.30pm on Friday January 12, 1996, followed by a
repeat showing of Goldfinger on Saturday 13th at 8.45pm. The season
concluded with a final screening of You Only Live Twice at 6.20pm
on Wednesday January 17, 1996. In the programme notes Dick Fiddy reminded
viewers under the age of forty that the chances were they had never seen
many of these James Bond films properly, as the prints in circulation
previously were in a sorry state. Their visual impact had been diminished
by peak-time holiday slot scheduling on television by ITV, who frequently
cut them for a family audience. Although the entire James Bond series
(excluding GoldenEye) had recently been remastered and released on
VHS video (and were also available in special collector's widescreen
editions for the first time), nothing could compare to seeing them
projected as brand new 35mm prints in a cinema environment. For Londoner's
and those fans willing to travel, this was a rare chance to see the 1960s
films in pristine condition on the big screen! |
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“No Limits. No Fears. No Substitutes.”
Following its
six-week engagement at the ODEON Leicester Square, GoldenEye
then transferred to the ODEON West End (formerly the Leicester Square
theatre) for a further two weeks commencing Friday January 5, 1996.
The seven-week run at the ODEON
Marble Arch ended on Thursday January 11, 1996. After the ODEON
West End, GoldenEye then opened at the Empire 2 in Leicester
Square on Friday January 19, 1996, where it played for one-week before
transferring to the smaller 80-seat Empire 3 for a further two weeks
from Friday January 26th. As part of its West End engagement
GoldenEye also played at the 7-screen
multiplex MGM Trocadero Cinema on Great Windmill Street, which had
opened on November 1, 1991. GoldenEye played for four-weeks
from Friday January 19, 1996; also opening at the ODEON Haymarket
(still a single screen cinema) on the same day, and again playing for
four-weeks. On Friday January 26, 1996 GoldenEye opened at the Plaza cinema
on Lower Regent Street, playing for another eight weeks. One week at
Plaza 1; four weeks at Plaza 2, and the last three weeks a Plaza 4
from Friday March 1, 1996. On Friday February
16, 1996 GoldenEye made a return visit to Leicester Square, this
time playing for 13-weeks at the ODEON Mezzanine. Opened in 1990
the five-screen cinema was built in the exit alley adjoining the ODEON
Leicester Square, and GoldenEye played there for twelve weeks in
the 60-seat screen 4, transferring to the 50-seat screen 2 for its
final week. On Friday May 24, 1996 GoldenEye was then revived
at the Prince Charles cinema in Leicester Place with selected
screenings over a three-week period. The independently owned venue
eventually found its niche as a repertory cinema, playing recent hit
films, revivals, foreign language and cult favourites as part of its
varied programming. The Prince Charles cinema has been the home to the
London revival of all James Bond films in more recent years with
late-night and festival screenings. |
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“Everything or Nothing”
James Bond producer Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli passed away on June 26,
1996 at his home in Beverley Hills, California. One of the pallbearers at
his funeral on 7th July was Timothy Dalton, who had remained friendly with
the family following his departure from the Bond series in 1994. On Sunday
November 17, 1996 a special memorial tribute was held appropriately at the
ODEON Leicester Square in London. Hundreds of colleagues and Bond alumni
joined in to pay tribute including actors Desmond Llewelyn, Jane Seymour,
Jill St. John and Lois Maxwell; directors Guy Hamilton, John Glen and
Lewis Gilbert; associate producer Tom Pevsner, and composer John Barry.
Former Bonds Sean Connery and George Lazenby paid their respects via
video, but Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan attended in
person to share their memories and pay tribute to the man who changed
their lives.
Beginning with the release of Pierce Brosnan's second James Bond film all
posters and main titles would bear the credit “Albert R. Broccoli's EON
Productions present...” as a lasting tribute to the man who (with Harry
Saltzman) created the most successful franchise in cinema history.
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ABOVE:
TRIPLE-O-SEVEN Former James Bonds Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore
appear with the current 007 at the ‘Cubby’ Broccoli memorial tribute
held at the ODEON Leicester Square on Sunday November 17, 1996. |
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“Brand New Bonds”
Exactly one year after the presentation of the first five James Bond
films at the National Film Theatre, a second season was programmed, this
time adding brand new prints of On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and Live And Let Die
(1973). The season entitled ‘Brand New Bonds’ was respectfully dedicated
to the memory of Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli - the man who (along with
co-producer Harry Saltzman) brought Bond to
the big screen. The huge audience response to the 1996 season prompted the NFT to show the first five Sean Connery films again starting on Wednesday
January 1, 1997 with a triple-bill of Dr. No at 4.10pm, followed by
From Russia With Love at 6.20pm, and concluding with Goldfinger
at 8.45pm. Thunderball was shown at 6.10pm on Thursday January 2nd;
and You Only Live Twice at 6.20pm on Saturday 3rd, with all
screenings once again taking place in the 450-seat NFT1. |
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The brand new 35mm print
of On Her Majesty's Secret Service had its first screening at
8.20pm on Monday January 6, 1997, with Diamonds Are Forever at
8.40pm on Tuesday 7th. On Thursday January 9, 1997 the NFT programmed
On Her Majesty's Secret Service at 6.00pm followed by Live And Let
Die at 8.40pm, effectively recreating the double-bill last seen in UK
cinemas in 1974/75. A second screening of Diamonds Are Forever took
place in NFT1 at 6.20pm on Friday January 10th, with a repeat showing of
Live And Let Die concluding the season at 4.10pm on Saturday
January 11, 1997. |
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